15 rounds, 16*16ft ring, Standard refereeing. Curry from the McCrory fight Rodriguez from the 1st Griffith fight This content is protected Should get some beautiful boxing here from 2 of the finest WWs of all time.
I'd pick Rodriguez by UD. Curry, as great as he was skill wise, showed nothing that would truly put him above the class of Rodriguez, who was the man at Welter and a force at Middle. Men like Griffith definitely were equal or superior to Curry in the skills department, though Curry was much more inclined to aggression, and it can be argued Rodriguez won every bout. I see Rodriguez being very fleet footed in this bout, relying on his jab alongside sporadic inside offense, and I don't see Curry's (brilliant) minimalist approach solving it. Rodriguez had fantastic movement, rhythm and IQ. He'd figure out Curry IMO. The bout of course would be close. Curry was a force at his best, and would still land that beautiful left hook and corking right hand, but not enough to truly change the bouts momentum.
Consider also that, although at 154, McCallum managed to adapt to the skill set and positioning of Curry, landing a vicious counter. Rodriguez was a greater fighter than McCallum, just as well rounded and had better, fleeter footwork.
What makes you say that Rodriguez is greater than McCallum? Not saying I disagree...last list I had both in the 75-85 range and think very little separates them. Not trying to hijack the thread topic but would be interested in your perspective.
Rodriguez is very underrated, and has a ridiculously strong resume, in beating some of the best at the rime at both 147 and 160. I would also say the Griffith win is better than any of Mike's, and it's also arguable he won every single encounter. He also has wins over the likes of Hurricane Carter, a TKO over Benton, win over Curtis Cokes, Bennie Briscoe, and many others. There was a great article which explored his resume in depth; the write is a poster here. I can't find it at the moment though. As skilled as McCallum is, I consider Rodriguez better H2H as well. He's one of the well rounded fighters, who could do anything, and super smoothly at that.and he proved it against the best. Edit: here's the article I think. https://www.google.com/search?safe=...ee5AsOU8gKWma64Cw&q=luis+Rodriguez+boxer#ip=1
Yeah @roughdiamond pretty much summed this up perfectly, well I say perfect, What I pretty much agree although he's definitely see my coriander rodriguez and I've only really seen 2 Griffith fights and Curry's fights with Starlin and McCrory. One thing I can say however, is that wells Rodriguez clearly has the better resume i like I like Curry to land some very nice shots and as Rough mentioned is brilliant left hook and the corkscrew cross he liked so much, think these have a seriously damaging effect on any, welterweight really but Rodriguez in this case. I'm not saying that they'd cause KD or any result altering effects, I just think that clearly take a toll on Rodriguez. I think this is a very very entertaining fight for those who love the sweet science, as it would have 2 master technicians trying to manage distance, control pace and get accustomed to eachother, only to readjust every couple of rounds. And when they trade on the inside, which was bound to happen, it would cause a brilliant highlight reel.
I agree with @roughdiamond that Rodriguez was greater, and more skilled. Personally I think when you break it down into what you really need for most pfp lists Rodriguez just has him beat. For example, Résumé. Rodriguez has Cokes, Griffith, Benton, Briscoe 2*, As well as countless top contenders. McCallum has Curry, McCrory, Kalambay, Collins, Jackson and Graham With a handful of contenders and mandatories. Both very good résumés but a clear edge for Rodriguez imo. Another is obviously how you handle moving up in weight, for me Rodriguez moved further up (from 147 to 160, as opposed to 154 to 160) whilst still having success than McCallum did. McCallum does have him beat in consistency imo, which is obviously impressive but I think it's less so when you compare eras and such. Also Longevity is probably tipped to McCallum's favour. But whilst of the main 4 categories it's 2-2 I'd personally put more emphasis on the first 2 than the second given the difference in era's. They have a few similarities though. Both were great pfp talents and are some of the most skilled fighters ever. Both were involved in razor sharp series with other ATGs. I'm obviously talking about Toney and Griffith, it's arguable that these two got the short end of the stick in some of these fights and I'd probably agree. So for an argument's sake I'll give McCallum the Toney fights (which he has a good case for) and the same for Rodriguez and Griffith. The résumés then become further apart imo.
First you double posted George lol, a lot of that going around today. 2nd I don’t really disagree as I have Rodriguez about 4-5 spots higher than McCallum....but I don’t think the gulf is wide. Personally I don’t feel like I under or overrate either guy? But perhaps. I find the gap for Rodriguez minimal so I wouldn’t say he is greater (and if so it is slim enough to me that I wouldn’t draw a contrast). But you guys give compelling reasons...I keep saying I am going to redo my list but I never seem to get around to it...going on 3 years now lol. Either way I didn’t want to hijack this thread, as Rodriguez does not get a lot of attention around here. But thanks for the replies and insights Edit @George Crowcroft nevermind no double post it just started similar my bad
Since I temporarily detracted from the topic at hand....I think Rodriguez would beat him comfortably on the cards but contested closely in rounds and overall
Rodriguez is greater than McCallum and has a better resume. I feel both have always been tremendously underrated but McCallum has sometimes got to the point of potentially overrated because of fake narratives he was ducked by Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Hearns. I say that as a huge fan of his. I think poor Luis has always remained dramatically underrated. His resume is incredibly deep, his consistency and longevity astounding. He could fight any style. At one point in his career he’d had close to 110 fights and beat everyone he’d faced and was shopworn and leading Nino and about to win but walked into a huge shot. Rodriguez beats Curry convincing in a fun scrap that’s good lots of quality in it. I can see it being tit for tat for 7-8 then Luis taking over. He had limitless stamina.
